Not looking for a debate on whether this is the best certification out there, I know it is not as comprehensive as CSCS and few others.
Just wondering if anyone here has taken the exam? For the amount of flack I’ve seen this certification get on this site, the study materials go much deeper than I expected. Is the exam tough to pass?
Thanks for any insights.
You better have some education. I got my helath and fitness management degree and this was my first cert.
I took it my sophmore year and didn’t pass 1 of the sections.
It is alot toughter than people give it credit for.
Tons of defintions, anatomy and now they have practical sections I belive.
Have you studied, are you in school for something similar??
PM me with any other Q’s. I might not revisit this thread…
I’m taking it this year, and I have to say that it’s a daunting book - and I wonder how much of it will be difficult anatomy questions.
I hope me learns it good.
THE ACE is . . . well, it’s like someone used movable type to reproduce scat.
I swear, one of the questions was “during a cardio class, what is the ‘up-beat’ during which a ab-crunch should be made?” I wrote “what can you crunch besides the abdominals, and who the fuck is playing music with an up beat in my God Damned Gym?!”
It was a multiple choice question.
OK, at least I’m not crazy. Before I got the study materials I did a search on here about PT certifications and people made is sound like a drunk monkey could pass the exam.
The manual is about the size of a phone book, the first three chapters are Physiology, Anatomy and Kineseology…not exactly light reading. All my experience is either practical and/or ancedotal, which may help in being a PT, but it will not help me pass the exam.
Either that, or I am dumber than a drunk monkey.
I just took it(and passed) this past November…
Lot’s of practical questions, and hardly anything that I studied for.
ACE is pretty conservative with there views…basically you have to pick the answer THEY would want you to, not the answer YOU actually think it is 
I’ll be getting this certification for a few reasons:
I need a certification for insurance purposes since I plan on opening my own fitness business in the future.
This is cheaper than most others.
It’s nationally recognized.
They provide good study materials.
It gets my foot in the door - I don’t need to get other certifications but can if I want to specialize.
Nate:
I’m doing it for nearly the exact same list of reasons.
Have wanted to train people for a while and now am taking opportunity to pursue it as a career. I need a certification in order to get some practical experience and have the long term goal of starting up my own business/facility.
I’m hoping the fitness industry stays somewhat viable in the current economy.
I’m not going to trash ACE (as much as I did chuckle at the drunken monkey analogy), but I figure anyone who has been training and chatting with other folks (reading mags etc) for at least a few years, and has some decent common sense should be able to pass it.
Of course I may be a little biased with my own premed/kineseology background, I sometimes forget that most people dont get this sort of base education in high school, or even most Gen Ed college degrees.
Take the test, and in the future, you can get a more respected cert, possibly the CSCS, which will certainly put you above most idiot-trainers found in health clubs these days.
S
I don’t think ‘the cert. makes the man,’(or woman) If you sincerely know what the hell you are doing, and you genuinely care for the people you are helping, should it really matter what kind of cert you have?
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
I don’t think ‘the cert. makes the man,’(or woman) If you sincerely know what the hell you are doing, and you genuinely care for the people you are helping, should it really matter what kind of cert you have?
[/quote]
You can say the same thing for a lot of professions/careers, doesn’t mean that when it comes down to it the people with “credentials” whether they are actually what matter or not aren’t the ones getting the jobs.
I think a cert does legitimize you. And, truth be told, it is information I should know if I plan on instructing people. You are being paid to have a certain expertise and knowing this information and getting certified is part of being professional. Plus it is essential for most industry jobs and to get insurance.
Stu, I’ve been reading mags/sites for years and have been in and out of gyms for over half my life (I’m 36). I’ve never come across articles or talk about things like myosin and actin protein function, even on a site like this which is more science heavy than most.
I’ve spent my entire post-college career in a creative field as a writer, apparently the science part of my brain needs to be awakened from a long hibernation. I’m sure with a background like yours, the materials would seem much easier.
I think you can get a copy of sample questions either online, or mailed to you. That would probably give you an idea of the difficulty level. Last September I sat in on a weekend CSCS workshop, and it’s amazing how much biochemistry is involved. So many gym rats think it’s just knowledge you get from hanging round the weights, but understanding different ATP pathways and the like will certainly make you at least sound more credible to clients when you’re designing their training protocols -lol.
And if it makes you feel any better, I’m an animator by trade, so focusing on the creative side of your brain doesnt preclude you from being a buffest nerd you can be 
S